Should Have Listened To Peter
by Ayesha Altugle
Summary: James reflects on a prank he and his friends pulled on Severus Snape. It backfired in ways he could have never imagined. Marauder Era. Canon divergence.


**A/N:** ** **Alternative timeline, canon divergence oneshot. What if Severus and Lily stayed friends, what if he never called her a mudblood and caused their friendship to end? What if the prank James and his friends try to pull on him backfires in ways nobody expected?****

 ** **This is w** ritten for The Quidditch League Fanfiction Competition. My team is the Wimbourne Wasps!**

 **Round 2- Jurassic Fever, CHASER 2: Stegosaurus: Write about a character who's deceit or intent to harm ends positively for the recipient/s. Optional: Use 3 prompts. I'm using (dialogue) "Aww, does somebody need a hug?" (Word) Proof, and (Setting) Forbidden Forest.**

* * *

In the Forbidden Forest, James Potter sat down with his back leaning against a tree. He often liked to escape to the forest to be alone, a fact not even his friends knew. There were rumors of dangerous, even evil creatures here, but the forest did not scare him. His friend was a werewolf, so James had confidence he could handle anything. His reckless behavior made him perfect for the Gryffindor house.

Danger or not, he was lucky because nothing ever messed with him when he came to his spot. He let out a sigh, before shutting his eyes and reflecting on how everything had ended up so wrong.

"I should have left well enough alone. Now look where I am." He glanced around the Forbidden Forest. The sun was slowly rising, which meant in an hour or two, his mates would be awake and wondering where he went.

"I never thought I would say this, but we should have listened to Peter." James dug into the ground around him, making pointless shapes.

* * *

 **1 Year Ago -**

James and Sirius stood just outside the Gryffindor common room. They were laughing, heads held close, talking about their next prank on Severus Snape. Sirius outright detested Snape. The Slytherin just got under his skin.

It was different for James. His hate for Snape developed more and more because of his girlfriend. Lily Evans considered Snape her best friend, and James hated that. Then there was the fact that James could see the way Snape looked at Lily. It disgusted him. How dare Snape be in love with his girlfriend. James never imagined he would be a possessive person. He loved Lily. So, he didn't think he was doing anything wrong by driving Lily and Snape apart. He wanted to do something to Snape that would make him stay away from her once and for all.

"This is how it will work," James said to Sirius. "We make sure Snape can hear us, and then we talk about the secret passage and when we're meeting. He will follow us for sure."

"He'll get a scare," Sirius said with a grin. "He might even wet himself, I bet!" Sirius slapped his side. His cheeks grew red as he laughed, almost causing a coughing fit. "If we're lucky, Remus will maul-"

"Now, now," James said, chuckling and rolling his eyes. "Slow down a bit. Imagine how traumatized poor Remus would be if he ever hurt anyone, even a Slytherin."

"Whatever, you know I wouldn't _kill_ him. Though it wouldn't hurt if Snape fell over in fright, bonked his head, and lost his memory," Sirius said with a smirk. "He'd have to leave Hogwarts forever, and we'd be Snape free!"

James knew deep down that his friends and Snape were both in the wrong. Lily was always drilling it into their heads that they should all grow up. He couldn't understand what his girlfriend even saw in Snape. It boiled his blood that Lily and Snape had been friends since childhood.

 _Alright, so I'm jealous,_ James thought, hating to admit it.

"What are you two talking about?" Peter asked as he stumbled upon his friends on his way back to the Gryffindor common room. He felt a sting of inner pain that they were excluding him again. It happened a lot. He was the odd one out in their friend group.

"Just you wait, Peter!" Sirius said, throwing his arms up in an exaggerated flourish. "Our next prank on Snape will be the best yet."

"What do you mean?" Peter wasn't sure he wanted to know.

"We're going to lure him into the Shrieking Shack and give him a fright!" James explained.

Peter's mouth fell open. He was not one to usually stand up to his friends, but he could not help blurting, "Don't you think that is crossing the line?" His cheeks instantly burned. Peter looked down at the floor, shuffling his feet.

"I mean, what if Remus attacks him?" Peter hated how they bullied Snape. He noticed whenever Snape bullied them back, the Slytherin didn't mess with him or Remus as much. Snape's grudge was against Sirius and James for the most part. Peter went along with everything because he didn't want to lose his only friends. He couldn't help thinking he was the biggest coward at Hogwarts and believed the Sorting Hat only put him in Gryffindor out of pity. Peter wanted to be brave and live up to his house standards, but he was always so nervous with anxiety and fear. He could not reach his full potential.

"Oh, don't be a spoilsport," Sirius said, clapping Peter on the back. Peter staggered a few steps forward and looked at them with a small pout.

"Aww, does somebody need a hug?" James teased. "Lighten up, Peter. We won't hurt him. We only want to scare him a little. It'll be fun!"

* * *

He could not speak to his friends, but judging from how stiff their Animagi forms were, James knew they were waiting in anticipation for Snape to come stumbling through the secret passageway and into the cabin. Sirius and James had set the trap a few days ago and they were positive Snape would take the bait. If stags could grin, there would be a huge one on his face. James looked at Remus. He was fully transformed into a werewolf. It was still odd to see how calm and nearly peaceful the beast could seem when there was nothing around for it to hunt.

James had a moment of doubt, thinking of Peter's words. _Are we crossing the line? No, we can handle Remus! Snape will be fine, and besides, he won't even know who we are. The idiot probably won't be able to put two and two together._

 _Any minute now,_ James thought. Minutes ticked by, but nothing happened. _Come on, Snape. You've never turned down a chance like this before._

 _What the fu-_ James barely got the thought out as the room turned into chaos. Lily. His Lily had walked into the cabin. How? Why? Where was Snape?

The next few moments went by in a blur. All he heard was screaming, the sound of Remus roaring, the frantic barks of Sirius, and squeaks from Peter. The Screaming was coming from Lily. She stood there frozen as Remus growled and tried to get at her.

James head-butted the werewolf when he jumped at Lily. He did not get to Remus in time. Lily was tossed aside like a rag doll, hitting the cabin wall. Had James slowed the werewolf down enough to keep Lily safe? There was blood dripping from her body.

 _Did he claw her? Did he bite her?_

Sirius and Peter jumped on Remus, distracting him long enough for James to go over to Lily. She weakly put her arms around his neck, and he dragged her out of the cabin and back into the passageway. Once they were safe, he transferred back into his human form.

"James Potter! How dare you!" Lily had tears in her eyes, but she was holding them back. Her anger outweighed everything else. The blood on her came from her forehead. James reached out to check the source, praying she had not been bitten. Lily slapped his hands away.

"Do not touch me!" He watched, his heart in shattered pieces as Lily slowly, painfully checked herself.

"It was supposed to be a joke," James said, looking down at the ground. "We thought we could handle Remus."

"The werewolf is Remus?"

"Yes," James admitted. "I'm so sorry! Did he… are you…"

"You mean did he bite me?" Lily yelled. She balled up her fists, and her breaths came in quick bursts as she glared at him. "No, he did not BITE me, James Potter! He very well could have or worse!"

"But the blood…"

"In case you didn't notice, I hit that wall quite hard! I must have cut my head on something," Lily said with a wince. Her whole body hurt. Remus had so much extra strength as a werewolf.

"I'm sorry," James murmured. He did not know what else to say.

"How did you think you could keep Remus from hurting Severus? Or did you even care?"

"Lily, I swear we thought we could keep him under control. You know we wouldn't hurt anyone." James tried to touch her again, but she backed away from him. "How did you end up in the cabin?"

"Are you pissed your plan backfired? Severus told me what he overheard you and Sirius talking about. If you MUST know, he listened when I asked him to stay behind." Her glare softened and all energy left her body. She slid down the tunnel wall, hanging her head. "I thought I could drag you guys back and save us losing house points." Her tears finally flowed. She cried softly and James watched helplessly. She would want no comfort from him.

* * *

Days later, Lily came to him. He could tell by her face that she did not bring good news. James had a feeling what she said next would change everything.

"I've been thinking about this for a while." Red and splotchy patches covered Lily's cheeks. Her eyes were wet, though she was not crying. She had been earlier. James could tell she was close to starting again. Her wounds were mostly healed thanks to Madam Pomfrey, though she walked with a limp.

"What are you saying?" He wanted to hold her but held back. She had not let him touch her since the incident and became angry if he tried.

"I'm tired of how you guys treat Severus. I've told you he means a lot to me. He is my closest friend, James! I've known him since I was a child. This house rivalry is getting out of hand. I can't stand it!"

James opened his mouth to defend himself, but one look from her shut him up.

"I don't think you're the type of person I want to be with right now. I-I can't do this anymore." A tear fell down her cheek.

"Are you saying _Snivellus_ is the type you'd want?" His voice was cold, expressionless. His whole body felt numb.

"You nearly got me killed! The least you can do is call him by his name and stop acting so damn immature!" Lily lowered her eyes, looking at her trembling hands.

She turned away from him. "I've never done anything dishonest with Severus. I've never cheated on you or gave you a reason to distrust me. The way you act over my friendship with him is proof you do not trust me."

* * *

 **Present Day -**

James stood up, dusting dirt from his robes. He looked around the forest, watching small woodland animals going about their business. He wished he could have it as simple as the creatures in the Forbidden Forest.

 _Lily, I'll try to be a better person, even if I'm not with you. I can't believe she is with him now… Severus. Why is it so hard to think of him as Severus? It is the least I can do after what we did to her. I know she never cheated when we were together. She's the most honest person I know._

A year had passed. James was still trying to come to terms with everything. _I've got to learn to move on and face facts. I really made a mess of things. I love her so much, and I always will._

It broke James's heart that he could tell his former girlfriend was happier with Severus than she had ever been with him. He knew this was his fault because he had never treated Lily how she deserved to be treated.

Severus had also changed. He seemed less gloomy and smiled more. James only noticed because when he looked Lily's way, he saw Severus, too. James no longer had the energy to bully him, so Severus stopped bothering him as well. Sirius kept up his bullying, but Severus, being happy, never retaliated. After a while, Sirius got bored and moved on to a new hobby.

Peter and Remus stayed friends with Lily. In a strange way, they were becoming friends with Severus, too.

The prank backfiring would save several lives in the future, but nobody knew that.

James left the forest, heading back to the castle.

* * *

 _ **Buzzzzzzz**_

 _We all believe in the power of The Wasps!_

Over land _and sea, we follow The Wasp way._

 _We are the Wasps._

 _Fear our sting!_

 _For we are The Wasps!_

 _But whatever you do,_

 _do not eat us!_

 _Wasps can be Friend!_

 _Wasps Not FOOD!_


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